Fate of Memories
by Aurea Candel
Summary: Unbeknownst to the Strawhat crew, hidden among their treasure is an ancient vampire who has lost her memories. Set after Thriller bark. R&R!  mostly  on hiatus while i'm finishing my first story.
1. Shadows

**Aurea:** I don't own one piece, but i do own this story and its characters!

This is my second story, and unlike the first one i want to make this one a bit more horror-esque. There will be pairings but those will be a surprise for now, amd to those of you who have read my first story, don't worry i haven't forgotten about it yet!

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><p><strong>Fate of memories<strong>

**Shadows **

A long sinister shadow loomed over Nami as she slept. She twisted uneasily in her sleep. There was a strange, cold pressure on her neck.

Nami awoke with a start.

Breathing slightly heavily, she brought a shivering hand to her throat.

"What was that?" she whispered to herself quietly, drawing the blankets around her tightly.

She took in a deep breath, calming herself down before trying to go back to sleep.

But she didn't sleep.

Though she knew that the room was empty with the exception of Robin and herself, she felt a presence of some kind, like she was being watched.

Rolling over in her mattress, Nami tried to dismiss her feelings as paranoia stemming from their recent experience in Thriller Bark, but she couldn't shake the notion that

something wasn't right.

After an hour of restlessness, Nami gave in and called out to Robin.

"Robin? Robin, are you awake?"

There was no answer.

A worried frown shaded Nami's face.

It wasn't unusual for Robin to stay up late. She would often be found in the kitchen or library reading one of her books with a cup of coffee by her side.

Despite this, Nami wanted to find her; something told her to find Robin.

She _was_ on a pirate ship after all, and on the grand line of all places. She had to trust her instincts.

Stepping out onto the moonlit deck Nami noticed the silhouettes on the ship seemed much more ominous and intimidating to her than usual.

She hurriedly walked to the kitchen, checking her surroundings cautiously as she did so.

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><p>Chopper sat on the edge of Zoro's bed, his hoof patting Zoro's leg gently. Like Nami, he was unable to sleep and judging by the sound of Zoro's steady breathing,Chopper had assumed that Zoro was also wake.<p>

Chopper had woken up an hour ago after he felt a foreboding change in the atmosphere. At first, Chopper thought that it could be related to the weather, so he checked the sea but it had been deadly calm, there was no sign of an incoming storm. After he returned to his bed, he had found it impossible to sleep.

Not because of his crewmate's loud snores, but because he felt as if someone was there…in the room.

Watching.

When Zoro stirred Chopper was more than relieved to not be alone.

"Zoro…hey" Zoro responded with a drawn out sigh before he sat up.

"You feel it too huh?" he said, resting his hands on his swords. Surprised, Chopper nodded sadly.

"What do you think it is?" he asked timidly.

He jumped slightly at the sound of Zoro's boots hitting the floor.

"I dunno but I think its best to check the ship, we might've picked up some stowaways or something" he said, scratching his head nonchalantly after he put on his boots

and secured his swords.

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><p>The floor creaked slightly under Zoro's weight as he and Chopper left the cabin and made their way to the deck.<p>

There was nothing but dark seawater illuminated by the moonlit sky for miles in each direction. The wind blew nothing but the smell of fresh sea salt across the deck. Nothing on the deck seemed out of place.

Zoro and Chopper headed for the kitchen as the light was on, though they already knew that they would only find Robin there.

However, much to their surprise, they also found Nami at the table, sitting across from Robin with her fingers wrapped tightly around her cup and a worried expression on her face.

**This is it for the first chapter, but the next one will be longer!**


	2. Tension

**Aurea: this is my second chapter, feel free to leave any comments as they will all be read. Enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>Fate of memories<strong>

**Tension**

Zoro quickly recovered from his initial surprise as he beckoned Chopper into the kitchen. The kitchen was dark, lit

only by a dim flame from a worn out candle that sat in the middle of the table. It gave the kitchen a rather sombre

vibe which was reinforced by Nami's sunken posture and Robin's hard gaze.

The clanking of Zoro's swords broke the uncomfortable silence as he strolled over and seated himself next to Robin.

"What are you doing up at this time, aren't you usually the one complaining about needing your 'beauty sleep'?"

he asked Nami bluntly, though his voice held a trace of concern.

"I should say the same to you; you don't even wake yourself up to do your watch, which is _tonight_ by the way…"

she stopped for a second, putting her cup down on the table before adding "…and I came in here to- speak to

Robin." she replied assertively though noticeably less aggressively than usual, which made Zoro suspicious.

He had noticed the slight hesitation in her speech and her awkward movements. Robin had also noticed and in a

calm voice explained to Zoro and Chopper that Nami felt a 'presence' of some sort in her room. The room

remained silent as they all contemplated Robin's words, while Robin was studying Chopper, who hadn't stopped

shaking since he had entered the room.

From his behaviour she concluded that they may have had a similar experience to Nami.

"Do you think someone is onboard the ship?" Robin asked to no one in particular.

They all looked up at her but her eyes were glued to the light of the candle and her expression gave nothing

away. Chopper's head drooped slightly as he shook his head,

"I dunno…I felt something… but I didn't see anything or smell anything…" his voice faded away.

Nami looked at him in surprise.

"You mean you saw it too?"

"Yeah-no, hmm I didn't_ see_ anything but, it's kinda weird I don't know-I don't know how to explain it"

"I know what you mean, I feel the same way…" she muttered. Silence fell on the room again.

The flame flickered.

"What was that?" Nami and Chopper squealed and jumped.

Zoro shook his head calmly.

"It's just the candle" he said simply.

"look... I don't know if someone's here or not but just sitting here isn't gonna help, if someone is here we need to wake the others and-"

"No, that won't be necessary" Robin interrupted.

Zoro turned to meet her thoughtful gaze. Robin smiling politely as rested her chin on her palm.

"I think everyone is still... troubled by the events on Thriller Bark, after all it's only been a few days...besides I've

been up the whole night so I can assure you that no one has boarded this ship. Now I think it would be a good

idea if we all get some rest." Her voice was sound and full of confidence, making her suggestion seem more like

an order.

Nami was about to protest but Robin gave her a look that made Nami feel as if she really was being overly

sensitive and irrational. Nami nodded her agreement and bid them goodnight as she and Chopper tiredly returned

to their rooms, leaving Zoro and Robin alone in the kitchen.

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><p>Zoro sat cross-legged opposite Robin as took a few swigs from the bottle of cider he had taken from the<p>

cupboard.

"Is there something wrong?" Robin asked gently, wondering why he had chosen to stay behind.

"Don't play stupid with me Robin." He said between swigs. "I know you know something's going on."

"I don't understand what you are saying, Zoro-san" she replied innocently.

He sighed. Robin could be difficult to deal with at times.

"I'm saying that something _is_ going on here, and I have a feeling that you know what it is." He said more firmly,

staring her straight in the eye.

She returned his gaze with equal intensity but didn't answer.

Zoro sighed again and tried a different tactic.

"You saw it right? Nami and Chopper are scared, which means we can't just brush it off. If something is here we need to take care of it now or it could endanger the crew."

His attempt at sympathy sounded more threatening than anything but he needed to coax the answer out of her.

"...and it can't be their imagination because I felt it too." He stopped and waited for her answer.

Robin gazed at him, unsure of what it was that he thought she knew but in the end decided to convey her theory,

despite how unrealistic it seemed.

"I read in a book..." she began reluctantly

"...in a book of legends, of people experiencing the same sort of sensations that Nami-chan described."

Zoro furrowed his eyebrows but urged her to continue.

"The legends spoke of a terrible creature that would terrorise their victims at night, appearing as ghostly apparition, stalking its victims in their dreams and sometimes attacking them..."

"A ghostly apparition?"

"Yes, it was said to be one of their powers."

"Whose power?" he asked curiously.

"A vampire."

**This is the end of chapter 2, and it seems that Robin has intelligently deduced what the problem is, even if it is just a theory. Will Zoro believe her? **


	3. Discovery

**Aurea: Chapter three enjoy and comment :)  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Fate of memories<strong>

**Discovery**

"A vampire huh? Normally I'd think you were crazy, but with everything that we've seen… a vampire doesn't sound too unbelievable…" Zoro said, scratching his head.

"Of course that is just a theory; there could be many other explanations for strange events that seem to have occurred" Robin added.

She was surprised that Zoro didn't find her theory as ridiculous as she had, but considering all the strange creatures they had encountered on their journey, a vampire

being onboard the ship didn't seem to be as unrealistic as she first though.

"But-" Zoro's deep voice broke her chain of thoughts and brought her back into the present.

"Yes?" she asked.

"If a vampire is on the ship, when did it get onboard?" Zoro asked puzzled.

Robin briefly thought over the possibilities before answering.

"While it is still just a theory, it could have boarded while we where docked on Thriller Bark"

"Then why would it wait until now to show itself" demanded Zoro.

"I don't know"

"We should wake the others and tell them"

"No" Robin said in a disapproving voice.

"Why not?" Zoro asked suspiciously.

"How do you think they will react? Besides, we lack solid proof and most importantly vampires are at their strongest in the night. I don't know what it might be planning,

but judging by Nami's description it seems to just be observing us, so tonight we should sleep and make a plan tomorrow."

After a bit of convincing, Zoro finally relented and headed off to the Crow's nest for his watch, while robin returned to her room.

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><p>The next morning the crew breakfasted in high spirits despite the fact they had all suffered from nightmares.<p>

The crew sat around the table discussing their strange dreams.

Luffy sat at the head of the table with a half eaten pastry in one hand, animatedly portraying his dream with his other hand.

"-Then this _giant_ tentacle came out of the water like this!" he shouted excitedly, flailing his arm around. Usopp, Brooke and Chopper listen intently, shouting in agreement

during some parts of his story.

"I had a dream like that too, only it was a thousand tentacles after me!" Ussop proclaimed smacking with his fist bravely on his chest.

"Then this blacked haired guy-"

"-Hey did you guys feel like you were drowning too?" Franky interjected.

"Huh, oh …yeah!" they all shouted in unison.

"-And did you guys see a beautiful blond haired maiden with wings?" Sanji asked in his love-mode voice. Once again they all agreed. Suddenly the room went dead quiet.

"How did everyone have the same dream" Nami inquired, looking around the table thoughtfully. Each face held a look of confusion and obliviousness, except Robin and

Zoro.

Nami frowned.

"Robin, Zoro do you know what's going on here?" she asked annoyed, she didn't like being kept out of the loop.

Zoro frown but didn't say anything, leaving Robin to answer her question. Robin divulged the theory she had been contemplating the night before, deciding that after the

crew's strange dreams her hypothesis was likely to be accurate after all.

Once the had crew overcome their state of panic Nami issued the order to search the ship.

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><p>After half an hour of searching, Luffy's loud voice echoed from the base of the ship.<p>

"OIIIIIIIII!"

Nami ran up to him at full speed, punching him squarely in the jaw.

"Do you have to be so freakin' loud?" She shouted shaking her fist angrily.

"But Nami, I found it! I found it!" the quickly recovered Luffy pounced in the air. The rest of the crew soon gathered.

"You found what exactly? This is just my treasure chest." She said impatiently.

"ahh soo this is where she hides it..." Usopp whispered in the background.

"No look at it!" he exclaimed point at the chest.

It was an unusually large chest, big enough to fit a person inside. Its wooden case was bound in silver chains with all connected to a single, intricate circular lock.

"What about it?" huffed Nami.

"Isn't this the type of thing vampires live in?"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"" Chopper screamed "Vampires? Vampires are really on the ship?" He started running around in circles.

"Don't be stupid Chopper; this is clearly just a treasure chest." Nami folded her arms, irritated.

"I don't know about that Nami-neechan, I mean how many treasure chests have you seen shaped like that?" Frank asked moving closer to examine the chest.

"Yohoho he's quite right, that chest...something about it makes my skin crawl, even though I have no skin! Skull joke!"

"Hmm" Nami muttered.

Robin and Zoro stood back from the rest of the crew examining the chest from a distance.

"So we should open it right? Right! Cool let's see what's inside" Luffy jumped around excitedly. "Zoro slice it open!"

"NO!" Nami shouted pushing Luffy away. "This is my treasure I won't let you idiots damage it!"

Pulling out a hairpin and some thin metal rods supplied by Franky, Nami skilfully picked the lock.

The silver chains made a loud thud as the fell to the ground.

As Luffy and Sanji came forward to lift the wooden, the tension in the room rose.

Nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to discover.

**This is the end of Chapter three, and the strawhat crew are about to discover the source of their nightmares (not that they found them particularly scary ^^)**


	4. Chained

**Aurea: Haven't updated in a bit, i'll try and put a chapter up more often :P  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Fate of Memories<strong>

**Chained**

Nami stumbled backwards, her hand covering her mouth, stifling a scream. Sanji dropped the wooden cover unexpectedly, uttering curses under his breath. Luffy just

stared at the box, his eyes wide open.

Inside the box was a young girl, no older than them, bound by bloodied silver chains.

"Shit" was muttered by one of the crewmates in a small voice.

They all moved closer to look inside. The girl lay still with her eyes closed. Her short black dress was tattered, barely covering the bloody tattoo marks on her arms and

legs. Her skin, while still bronze in colour, looked deathly pale. Her long dark purple hair was frayed and uneven as if it had been sliced rather than cut.

"Is she still alive?" Robin asked Chopper in a composed voice, calmly crossing her arms. Chopper rushed forward, holding the girl's limp wrist in his hoofed hand,

checking intently for her pulse. Chopper shuddered involuntarily.

Her arm was icy cold. After a few moments of gentle prodding, he smiled.

"There! There's a faint pulse! She's alive!" he yelped.

Sighs of relief were heard.

"But…" Sanji started, lighting his cigarette with his hands, "…who would do something like to a beautiful young lady?" he peered back at the girl's still face. It looked far from peaceful.

Luffy bent down and started tugging at the chains.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Sanji placed his hand on Luffy's shoulder firmly.

"Don't we need to take her to the infirmary? …Chopper?" he turned in time to see Chopper nod.

"Ah right" Sanji helped him out, lifting the girl up slightly, while Zoro severed the chains with a clean swipe of his sword.

The crew minus Chopper, who was nursing the girl and Nami who was looking for a spare set of clothes for her, sat around the kitchen table apprehensively.

"So…who do you think that was?" Sanji inquired, lighting another cigarette. Zoro's attentive gaze shifted from Sanji to Robin.

"You don't think that was the vampire do you?"

"I think it might be…" Robin lifted her hand to her chin, as she does when she's in deep thought. "We've been sailing for a few days now, that box must have been with

us at least since Thriller Bark…that girl would have had nothing to eat or drink in that time, and she is bleeding quite a bit. I don't think a normal person would still be

alive."

The crew looked both anxious and relieved. They had found the source of their problem, however the source turned out to be a frail and injured young woman. They all

looked to Luffy, waiting to hear his decision.

"I think we should wait till she wakes up and see why she's been giving us nightmares." He said seriously, and then he said with a smile, "maybe she did it so we could

go find her and let her out!"

The crew looked at him astounded. It seemed that even Luffy could sometimes think quite logically. If anything he could actually be right, as the crew would never have

found her if not for the nightmares they had.

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><p>It wasn't until later that evening that Chopper left the infirmary and headed to the kitchen. Trotting across the deck, he noticed that despite the shadows and<p>

silhouettes that still loomed across the deck, that eerie feeling from the night before had disappeared.

Opening the kitchen door, he saw that the crew at the peak of their dinner fights. Zoro and Sanji looked like they were about to pounce on each other with Nami trying

to break them up , Luffy, Franky, Brooke and Usopp were wrestling over the last piece of meat, while Robin ate peacefully, her hana-hana hand resting protectively over

another plate, which Chopper assumed was his.

Chopper cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

"Ahh Cwhooppaa! How ish she?" Luffy spoke through his mouth full of food. Once he had been noticed everyone ceased their arguments to listen.

"She just woke up so she's a bit disorientated, which means we can't make any loud- Hey!" Chopper stopped mid explanation as Luffy jumped out of his seat towards

the infirmary. Chopper tried to call him back, but his words fell on deaf ears. Chopper and the rest ran after him, but stopped dead when Luffy flew out of the door and

went hurdling into the wall on the other side of the deck.

"What the-" Sanji shouted. "Oi Luffy, are you alright?"

Zoro immediately withdrew his sword from its scabbard. Cautiously, he approached the open cabin. Inside he saw the girl from the box. Though her hair was as

dishevelled as before, she had been bandaged up cleanly by Chopper and was wearing Nami's old pyjama set. As he stepped into the room, rather menacingly, the girl

looked up and narrowed her gold coloured eyes at him. She suddenly got up and lunged at him, her hand balled into a fist. Zoro raised his sword ready to parry her

attack.

"No Zoro wait! Both of you stop!" Chopper cried, leaping in-between them in his heavy-point form. At Chopper's appearance the girl stopped and retreated towards the bed.

"I'm sorry Chopper-sensei, are these the friends you where talking about?" her voice sounded much more gentle that her ragged appearance suggested.

She sat back down on the bed, all hints of hostility disappeared from her face. She smiled innocently at Chopper.

Smiling back at her nervously, Chopper urged Zoro to lower his sword, transformed back into his miniature form and moved further into the room, until he reached the

foot of the bed.

"Why did you attack Luffy?" Zoro asked gruffly, steeping forward only to be blocked by a long, slim leg.

"Oi, hold it. Don't go scaring young ladies, stupid Marimo!" said Sanji, narrowing his eye at him. This prompted another argument which was interrupted by Luffy's

sudden reappearance.

"Oi you! Why'd you hit me?" He yelled, pointing his finger at the girl. She looked up at him with a guilty expression. Shrinking back into the bed she responded in gentle voice.

"I'm sorry, you surprised me…" her quiet voiced died away as Luffy started to calm down. Strolling to her bedside, Luffy leaned closer to inspect her face. The girl's

cheeks flushed slightly as he continued to inspect her. Suddenly he took a step back, conked his head to the side and asked,

"Hmm…are you really a vampire?" in a doubtful voice.

**This is it for chapter four, explainions will be given in the next chapter, for now the little vampiress will remain a mystery :)**


	5. Spring

**Aurea: this** **chapter is a bit shorter than the others but you'll get a little background on my character :)**

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><p><strong>Spring <strong>

"Vampire?"

Luffy nodded.

"Ahh so you're a vampire." She said with an understanding smile, looking past Luffy's shoulder. He turned to follow her line of vision. His eyes fell onto Brook.

Visibly flustered, Brook shook his bony arms frantically.

"Me, a vampire? Yohoho No, no, no! That's…er…well, we thought that you were a vampire…" he stopped when her face contorted into a look of confusion. The girl looked at Brook

then to Chopper.

"Is that true?" she asked him.

"Well…" Chopper looked at her sadly.

"Is he really not a vampire?" she asked earnestly, leaning forward on the bed for a closer look.

The crew sweat dropped_. She doesn't quite understand the situation _they all thought.

"Anyway, who are you and why are you on our ship?" Nami asked firmly, still wary of the girl who may have been the cause for her sleepless night. The girl returned

Nami's question with a blank expression, as if she didn't know the answer.

"Er... that's what I wanted to tell you guys. She seems to be suffering from amnesia, which means that she doesn't even remember her own name…" Chopper explained.

Nami attitude changed from suspicious to sympathetic, as did the rest of the crew. They thought back to the condition they had found her in a few hours ago and felt guilty

that they had immediately judged her intentions without giving her a chance, even in the state she was in.

"Then does that mean you weren't the one that was haunting us last night?" Usopp asked.

"Haunting you?"

"Never mind then" he laughed it off. "Who would believe in vampires anyway, especially since I, Captain Usopp, slayed the vampire king all those years ago!"

"Really?" Chopper asked with stars in his eyes. "Ah so we have nothing to worry about then!"

The tension in the room soon started to disappear.

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><p>"Ha..." the young girl began to speak, but stopped suddenly, covering her face with her hand. She looked like she was about to faint.<p>

Chopper quickly moved to her side, holding onto her arms in support as she swayed unsteadily. The crew watched her anxiously. After a moment she uncovered her face

and gave Chopper a faint smile.

Tapping the edge of her lip with her finger, she looked up at the crew

"Ahh umm …who is Haru?"

"Haru?" Luffy asked

"Umm yeah… I just remembered that name so I thought I might have heard you say it…"

"There's no one here called Haru"

"But…if you remembered something" Chopper was getting increasingly excited, "that must be something from your memories! Haru? If you can remember it that must mean that the name that means a lot to you… maybe it's your name? That must be it! I think it's your name!"

"Isn't Haru a guy's name though?" Sanji pointed out.

"Maybe it's unisex? Like Haruna or something" Usopp suggested.

"Haru huh? … Well I don't know if it's my name or not but... hearing that name makes me happy…and sad. I wonder why." The girl murmured sadly.

Noticing the girl's melancholy smile, Nami was about to say something comforting when she noticed the tattoo on the back of her neck.

"Wait, I don't think that's your name.."

The girl looked at her wide eyed.

"Look here" Nami bent over and brushed the girl's messy hair to one side. On her neck was a tattoo of a word written in kanji.

"See, this." She pointed at the tattoo. "It's a tattoo of a name…Ryou-ko. Ryoko. Maybe that's your name?" she smiled.

"Ahh Ryoko does sound more girly!" Franky said loudly.

"So what do you think?" Nami smiled, squeezing the girl's shoulder lightly.

The girl smiled sincerely, clearly touched by their enthusiasm.

"Ryoko it is" she said softly.

Robin frowned slightly but didn't say anything. Looking at the happy smile on Ryoko's face, Robin thought that it would be a bad idea to ruin things and reveal the true

meaning of that particular tattoo.

**This is the end of chapter 5. For those of you who may not know, _Haru_ is a japanese name that means spring (also the title of the chapter) and is a character in this story that will be introduced later on ^^. Also _Kanji_ is one of japanese writing systems. **

**Robin (once again) has noticed something unusal, i wonder what it is :) well you'll find out in the future! haha well i hope you enjoyed my chapter.** **If you have any comments please review, bye!**


	6. reality

**Aurea:** Ello! sorry i haven't updated any of my stories for a long time! i've got a lot of work to do so its not always easy to update but i have no intention of leaving any

of my work incomplete no matter how long they take. so with that out of the way,on to the story :)

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><p>Fate of memories<p>

**Reality**

"There is no trace of the RYOKO. I repeat there is no trace of the RYOKO. The files and reports kept in Hogback's laboratory have all been destroyed along with the should we proceed?"

Marine Captain Jained reported over the Denden mushi. He and his crew had been scouring the island desperately for two days with no result. On the other side of line,

Lonman, a researcher under Vegapunk's direct orders, cursed under his breath before ordering the marine officer to return main headquarters immediately.

Sitting in a plain, white office surrounded by stacks of important documents, Sengoku muttered angrily when the Denden mushi rang loudly, breaking his concentration.

"Yes, who is it?" he demanded.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! This is Chief Lonman from the research department in charge of the RYOKO assignment."

"Ah yes. Has there been any progress?"

"Yes sir. However it is bad news"

"What? What happened? Where is it?"

There was silence on the other line.

"Lonman!"

"The laboratory in which the RYOKO was being held has been destroyed along with the rest of Gekko Moria's castle"

Sengoku eye twitched in anger. As he suspected, pirates were never to be trusted. Gekko Moria's failure at defeating Strawhat was embarrassing enough as it was, but

to lose a weapon of that calibre was unforgivable. Rubbing his temple to calm himself, he answered:

"Right I will investigate this further, you and Jained wait for my instructions" before he hung up.

* * *

><p>Ryoko sat amongst the crew in the kitchen quietly as Sanji served them dinner. She only spoke when the crew tried to involve her in their idle talk, but she mostly sat with<p>

her eyes downcast, as if she was in deep thought.

"-So, what do you think?" The room went quiet when Luffy spoke though this went unnoticed by Ryoko. She had on a blank expression; her mind was far away.

"Hello Ryoko?" Luffy spoke louder to get her attention.

"Oh. Did you say something?" she asked half-heartedly. Her attitude had changed drastically from a few hours ago when they had spoken to her in the medical bay; she

wasn't as lively as she was then.

"What's wrong? You're not eating, Sanji's food is good you know!" he said furrowing his eyebrows as if he felt personally insulted by Ryoko's rejection of Sanji's food. 

_Idiot_ Sanji thought as took Ryoko's hand in his.

"What he meant was we want you to join us, at least until you get your memory back."

"If you don't mind" she answered gingerly. Robin studied Ryoko intently.

She almost seemed like another person compared to the naïve girl the first spoke to. Robin wondered if it might be due to some post traumatic stress or something

more; after all while it seemed to have been quickly forgotten by the rest of her nakama, Ryoko _did_ attack them rather aggressively before.

"I mean, thank you Luffy, everyone. You have all be very kind to me and I would be honored to stay with you" Ryoko answered sincerely. Robin smiled, there was

something intriguing about Ryoko.

* * *

><p>Usopp rested comfortably against the mast while 'surveying' the sea from the crows nest. Now that they had found the cause of their troubles, Usopp felt that he<p>

deserved rest after the worries he had suffered during the last 24 hours. Even from the crows nest he could hear the gentle sounds of the ocean lapping the ship

slowly lulling him to sleep.

As Usopp closed his eyes a familiar, unpleasant feeling came over him. He shivered. Ignoring the feeling he tried to fall back to sleep again but the second he heard a

creak on the deck his eyes shot open again.

_What__ was__ that? _He peered over through the ledge slowly; try to be stealthy despite how badly his knees were shaking.

A shadow crossed the deck.

Usopp stumbled backwards clumsly making a loud thud as he hit the floor. _Shit, __someone__ HAD__ to __come__ when __its __my __watch! _He thought as his shaking hands fumbled

around in the darkness trying to locate Kabuto. Once he felt the cool metal pole, he crawled back to the ledge to spot the intruder; but the deck was empty.

Usopp let out a breath of relief. It was probably just one his crewmates wondering the deck as usual.

There was nothing to worry about; except the shadow was now in the room.


End file.
